Highland Gold receives construction permit for processing plant

Highland Gold has received approval for the construction of a stand-alone gold processing plant at the Belaya Gora project from the Russian authorities.

The Belaya Gora gold project is located 66km south of Mnogovershinnoye (MNV) and is estimated to contain 820,000oz of C1+ C2 reserves.

The approval opens the way for the second stage of development of the Belaya Gora Project. The first stage started in November 2010 with delivery of select oxide ore to the company's processing plant

Highland Gold is expecting to start the operations of the new gold processing plant in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The plant will have an average capacity of 1.5 million tons of ore per annum, with an expected life-of-mine gold production ranging from 75,000 to 110,000oz per annum.